Leeds might not be as internationally famous as its sister cities Liverpool, with its musical connections, or Manchester, with its two giants of football, but it is an economic force to be reckoned with and has one of the largest urban populations in the United Kingdom. The total population of the city of Leeds is something that is up for debate as there are questions as to where the city’s boundaries actually lie.
Leeds was one of the boomtowns of the Industrial Revolution in the 1800s and was a centre for cloth making, cotton production and textile manufacturing. Even today it is one of the leading industrial cities in England, with connections via rail, the River Aire and canals to Manchester, Liverpool and London 170 miles to the south. Wherever its borders are, it is certainly the largest city in West Yorkshire and it has some very large towns in its vicinity, including Bradford and Wakefield, two industrial powerhouses, and rugby league champions, in their own right.
As well as being home to the Leeds Rhinos, one of the greatest rugby league teams in the country, the city also has a famous football team with a huge following. Leeds United might not be the same force to be reckoned with as they were a few decades ago, but their fans still flock to games and their future looks bright. Loiners, as people from Leeds are known, are sports fanatics, with rugby league (different to rugby union, which is played more in the south) being almost as popular as football. Loiners are also famous for their wonderful use of language, with many words used only in the city and incomprehensible to anyone else. If someone offered you some ‘scogs’, for example, you should expect some sweets and after their scogs, kids might go out to ‘laik’, a South Leeds expression meaning ‘to play’.
Leeds was voted the number 1 city for graduates to live in due to its affordability, low unemployment, good quality of life and excellent transport links. Surprisingly, perhaps, a huge 77% of Leeds’ workforce are employed in the private sector, and there are 5 universities in the city itself, not counting other seats of learning in the area such as the Universities of Bradford and Huddersfield. Leeds has some other claims to fame: it is where soda water was invented, the oldest surviving moving film, The Roundhay Garden Scene, was filmed there in 1888, and, of course, it is the birthplace of Spice Girl and talent show star Melanie Brown, otherwise known as Mel B.
These days, Leeds is part of the UK government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative and billions of pounds of investment are being funneled into the city’s infrastructure, education and business arenas, making Leeds, once again, a true giant of the north.